[PATCH 2/3] Documentation: document naming schema for struct-related functions

From: Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks.im>
Date: Jul 24, 2024, 11:05 UTC
Message-ID: <7f07bf1f3beee2f74a3572d2b9a8d28b6535053e.1721818488.git.ps@pks.im>
In-Reply-To: <cover.1721818488.git.ps@pks.im>

We nowadays have a proper mishmash of struct-related functions that are called `<verb>_<struct>` (e.g. `clear_prio_queue()`) versus functions that are called `<struct>_<verb>` (e.g. `strbuf_clear()`). While the former style may be easier to tie into a spoken conversation, most of our communication happens in text anyway. Furthermore, prefixing functions with the name of the structure they operate on makes it way easier to group them together, see which functions are related, and will also help folks who are using code completion.

Let's thus settle on one style, namely the one where functions start with the name of the structure they operate on.

Signed-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks.im>
---
 Documentation/CodingGuidelines | 19 +++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 19 insertions(+)

diff --git a/Documentation/CodingGuidelines b/Documentation/CodingGuidelines
index 1d09384f28..34fcbcb5a4 100644
--- a/Documentation/CodingGuidelines
+++ b/Documentation/CodingGuidelines
@@ -541,6 +541,25 @@ For C programs:
    use your own debugger and arguments. Example: `GIT_DEBUGGER="ddd --gdb"
    ./bin-wrappers/git log` (See `wrap-for-bin.sh`.)
 
+ - Functions that operate on a specific structure and which are used by
+   other subsystems shall be named after the structure. The function
+   name should start with the name of the structure followed by a verb.
+   E.g.
+
+	struct strbuf;
+
+	void strbuf_add(struct strbuf *buf, ...);
+
+	void strbuf_reset(struct strbuf *buf);
+
+    is preferred over:
+
+	struct strbuf;
+
+	void add_string(struct strbuf *buf, ...);
+
+	void reset_strbuf(struct strbuf *buf);
+
 For Perl programs:
 
  - Most of the C guidelines above apply.

-- 
2.46.0.rc1.dirty